And there she was. After months of avoiding her out of her own protection, my sweet smiling sister somehow managed to slip back into my life so effortlessly. I couldn't really be surprised. Violet has always been this way ever since she was little. But still, it's not the most opportune moment.
It hasn't been that long since I last saw her, and here she is looking more and more like an adult. I allowed myself a moment to register her features, everything from her long, light blue hair, to her big blue eyes that matched mine, all the way down to the laces on her black boots, until I finally decided to speak.
"Violet," I tried to control my surprise. "What are you doing here?"
Her small smile curved a little more. "Isn't it obvious? I wanted to come see you. I mean, it's Thanksgiving and we always have Thanksgiving together," her smile dropped slightly as if she realized something. "Unless . . . you don't want me to--"
"No! No, no, that's not what I'm trying to say," I backtracked quickly. "It's just that . . . you know what I told you before you left. You should only come over here--
"When it's an emergency, I know," she sighed and crossed her arms. "But this is Thanksgiving. A time to be with family. Shouldn't that be an exception? We have never been apart on this day before and we shouldn't now. Regardless of what happened, we are still brother and sister. Isn't that enough?"
I wasn't sure how or when it happened, but before my eyes, the little girl I grew up with became a full-fledged woman overnight filled with defiance, wisdom, and humility. I knew this was happening months ago, but now I truly see her maturity at play now. Where did the time go when she was chasing me around begging for cookies? Or when she would crawl in my bed during a thunderstorm? What happened to that little girl who needed her brothers? Because now, standing before me, was a woman. When did time take away that little girl?
Realizing there was no sense in arguing with her, I let out a long sigh. I did all of this for her, but maybe just one day will be okay.
"Yeah . . . it is," I gave her a small smile. "Sorry. It's been a rough few months."
"I know. It's been that way for me as well." She had a faraway look in her eyes for a moment before she added, "That's another reason why I came. I didn't want you to be alone."
"Oh, well, you really don't have to worry about that," I adjusted the turkey in my arms. "I won't be alone."
Her black cherry lips turned down into a frown. "Who will you be with?"
"With Shortcake."
Now she really looked confused. "I'm sorry, who?"
"With me!" Katy suddenly popped out from behind me still holding her bag of groceries. I almost forgot she was back there, and Violet clearly had no idea because she jumped at Katy's debut. "Oh! Sorry! Didn't mean to scare you. I just wasn't sure when to make my presence known because you two were having a really deep conversation and I didn't want to interrupt--not that I was listening. I mean, I am a pretty good listener, but I didn't listen to whatever you two were talking about. Private family matters remain private! And I didn't want to interrupt although these can of green beans are killing my arms. I mean, who knew right? Green beans are the new body weight lifting thing I suppose," she let out a nervous laugh. "Oh! And I'm Shortcake by the way. I mean, my name isn't actually Shortcake, my name is Katy, but Gage calls me that name although I tell him not to and--"
"Here," I grabbed the bag from her hand interrupting her ramble of the day. "I'll take these while you go get your stuff from inside."
She looked confused for a moment. "Get what? Oh! Right, the pumpkin pie filling. Thanks, Gage," she patted my arm in appreciation before walking around a very puzzled looking Violet. "I'll just grab that and be right back!"
"Okay, we'll be out here," I adjusted the turkey in my arm again to hold Katy's bag properly.
When she disappeared inside her room Violet blinked a few times and turned to me. "Does she always do that?"
"Do what?"
"Talk a thousand words per second?"
"Oh, that," I shrugged. "Pretty much."
"That's talent."
"It's Katy," I adjusted the turkey again but to no avail and about dropped the bag when Violet swooped in.
"Let me get that," she took the bag away and I gave her a quick thanks. I could only hold so much with a turkey in one arm. And not a small one either, by Katy's request. When Violet adjusted the brown bag in her arms she eyed the material inside before asking, "So, is she like . . . your girlfriend?"
I stiffened not expecting her question. "Excuse me?"
"Katy. Is she your girlfriend? I mean, you two went grocery shopping together, something I know you hate doing, and now you're spending Thanksgiving with each other. Doesn't that make her your--?"
"No," I cut her off before she could insinuate anything else. "No, it doesn't. She's just my . . . neighbor."
She arched her eyebrow at me. "Neighbor?"
"Yep."
"Hmm," she was silent for a moment. "My neighbor never went grocery shopping with me."
"Shut it."
She snickered to herself and we fell back into silence until I couldn't stand it.
"And we're not spending Thanksgiving together. I mean . . . we are, but there will be others with us."
"Like who?"
"Like our co-workers."
Her eyebrows shot up. "You work together, too?"
"It's complicated."
"Doesn't sound all that complicated to me. You live next door to each other, you work together, you go grocery shopping together, spend holiday's with each other," she gave me a pointed look.
I frowned. "Don't you start."
"Start what? I didn't say anything."
"No, but you--"
The sound of a door closing interrupted our little banter and we turned to see Katy walking up with a bag filled with different assortments and a smile.
"You know, I was thinking," she locked the door behind her then turned to Violet. "Why don't you come with us?"
She looked taken aback. "To the dinner?"
"Yeah! I mean, we aren't the coolest people to hang around, but we have a good time. Like there was this one year when we played this card game called Spoons and Lamar broke the table in half trying to reach for the spoon. Oh! And the year before that--"
"I'd love to go," Violet chimed in with a smile. She's learning quickly how to manage Katy's rambled.
Shortcake perked up. "Really? That's great! I'll go make some room for you in the car. We grabbed a little too much food so it's kind of a mess right now. But there was this sale and I couldn't resist!"
Violet kept her smile as she watched Katy walk down the stairs still blabbering on about the different sales she hit. Before we followed her, Violet slipped her hands into her cardigan and turned to me with a smile.
"I like her," she stated before following after her.
I watched the two women retreat down the stairs before I let out a sigh. "Me too."
But I shouldn't, I reminded myself. In fact, I shouldn't be here at all. The only reason why I was because Jason said I've been in so many matches this past month I needed a break so I wouldn't wear myself out. He was right, my body was still sore from the last match, but I knew the consequences of not winning.
"Gage!" my sister called from the car below. "Come on! I'm starving."
"Yeah, yeah," I shook my head and walked down the stairs towards the two people that mean the most to me.
And also the two people I could destroy if I wasn't careful.
+++
Lamar's place was a lot bigger than I imagined it would be. But I guess when you have three daughters with a lot of personality you need all the room you could get. Everyone got acquainted with my sister a lot faster than I thought would happen. As it turns out, she actually knew Ellie and Kellie from some Public Relations class at their university, and Lamar's girls, Monica, Jasmine, and Aaliyah, found a keen interest in Violet's latest modeling gig.
I wasn't really fazed by this, but Lamar was starting to get a panicked look on his face when Violet said they should consider modeling as well. He quickly changed the subject by ushering them into the living room to play video games while the rest of us turned to the kitchen. Eventually, Lamar and I tackled the turkey while Katy naturally did the desserts. The sides were next on our list once the turkey was buttered up and ready to go.
In the middle of laughing at a joke Lamar made, I found myself surprised at how easy it was to feel comfortable here. But I guess when everyone has a common interest and you've worked together before it was simple. Even though I didn't know them for a long time, I could still find myself enjoying their company.
I allowed myself to think back to all the previous Thanksgivings when it was just me, Violet, and Paxton. Times were much simpler then, and everything was made from either a box or came from a drive-thru, but now that wasn't possible. Not with Lamar and Katy in charge.
I admired how well they worked together. It's hard to imagine them ever not knowing each other. They were just so in sync when they worked I was amazed. A few times when I was mixing the mashed potatoes I looked up to see Katy working on her own creation. I could find peace just watching as she stirred the batter around and around the bowl, a soft smile on her lips. Again and again, I reminded myself that I should be here, I shouldn't be noticing such things about her and feeling this way, but for today I pushed that thought to the side. It was a holiday after all.
Violet, feeling bad for not bringing anything, helped set up the table along with the Ellie who kept commenting on her hair. Lamar's girls were in the living room playing a new dancing game on the Wii with Kellie. Right when Jasmine beat the top score, Lamar pulled out the turkey and announced that everything was ready.
Once Lamar and I pulled out the seats for all seven ladies, we took our own seat with Lamar at the front. I was about to take my place between Violet and Ellie when my sister jumped up and said, "Here, Gage. You can take my place."
I looked at her seat confusedly until I saw who was beside it. I knew what she was trying to do.
"That's really okay."
"I need to ask Ellie something about class," she insisted while taking over my seat. Guess there was no room left to argue now.
It's not that I didn't want to sit next to Katy, I just didn't want there to be a big deal about it. Not that there should. But I knew my sister well enough. And I knew why she smirked at me when I took my place next to the now blushing Katy. I turned to her and shook my head.
"Sisters."
She snickered.
After Lamar said grace we all dug in passing around the food and plopping a hefty amount on our plates. I was in the middle of throwing down some green beans when I realized I haven't had a meal this good in a long, long time. There was something about surrounded by loved ones that made it taste so much better.
"So?" a kind voice next to me caught my attention. "What do you think?"
I looked at my plate of food then Katy. "About which one?"
She covered her mouth when she chuckled. "Not about the food, about all of this," she gestured with her fork around the room.
I looked up at all the smiling faces sitting around the table, all chatting while eating great food, then I turned back to Katy. "Well, the twins haven't bickered for over two hours now. So I'd say this is pretty great."
Right after I said that we heard a "Kellie! Don't talk with your mouth full!"
"Quit hogging the rolls!" her retort was muffled by the food in her mouth.
Katy let out a sigh. "Maybe Christmas will be better."
"Maybe," I agreed to mix up my mashed potatoes. "Do you mind passing the gravy?"
"Sure," she reached to grab the little silver gravy boat in front of her, but once she turned to pass it over, the handle gave out and the whole thing landed on my shirt.
"Ah! Shit!" I shot out of my chair when the scalding hot gravy started seeping through my clothes.
"Oh my God!" Katy quickly sat the boat to the side. "Oh, fudge muffins! I'm so sorry, Gage! Are you okay?"
"It's okay," I tried wiping off the thick brown liquid clinging to my shirt.
"It's not! I know you just got that shirt. Umm," she looked around for something before she caught sight of a napkin, grabbed it, dipped it in water, then turned to me. "Here, let me help you."
"Katy, it's fine. I'll just get another shirt."
"No, really. This is my fault. I'll get it," she started dabbing my torso.
"Katy--"
"Stupid gravy boat. I knew there was a reason why it was on sale for so cheap. I should have just used the one from here, but no I had to bring that one because it was silver. Well, silver is not always the way to go! And it's not even real silver!" she kept dabbing a little roughly now. "Just because it might look better and is fifty-percent off does not mean anything. I mean look what it did. Now it's all over your nice button up shirt and I know how much you liked this shirt because you never wear button up shirts so this was such a good change for you and you looked so good in it and now it's covered in brown gravy."
"Umm . . . Katy." I wasn't sure how to tell her everyone was staring at her now.
"And not even white gravy. That would have been so much easier to get out. And now it's going to probably leave a stain and--oh great, it got on your pants too."
My eyes widened when I realized what she was going to do. "Katy, wait--!"
But she didn't hear me and instead started wiping my crotch with the napkin, still a little aggressively. Lamar looked like he was about to have an aneurysm while the twins stifled their laughter. I looked at Violet who was really focused on her food now although I could see her smiling.
"I should file a complaint with the company that made the boat. They should put a warning somewhere letting us know that they are cheaply made and can break at any second. I wouldn't have bought it even if it was seventy-percent off--no, if it was free!"
While she was rambling I was trying my hardest not to let out any sort of sound as she worked between my legs. I knew she was doing this out of the goodness of her heart, but damnit if she didn't stop soon this whole table was about to get a show they didn't want to see.
"Katy, seriously. It's fine, you can stop," I tried through a strained voice.
"Next year I know better than to buy any kind of dishware from there."
Dab, dab, dab.
"Katy, stop--"
"I may not even buy food from there anymore!"
Dab, dab, dab, dab.
Down boy! This is not the time to come alive.
"Katy, please stop--"
"Well maybe if there was a sale," she paused for a second and I could finally breathe until she shrugged and continued. "Maybe if it was a really good sale--"
"Okay, that's enough!" I backed away finally guarding my men against Katy's attack.
She blinked a few times confused by my reaction. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," I took in a deep breath. "I'm fine. My clothes are fine. Especially my pants."
Her confusion lasted a beat longer until she looked down at the area she was working furiously on and then it all clicked. Her eyes widened right when her cheeks did a perfect impression of her cherry pie she made earlier.
"Let me get you some clothes, Gage," Lamar suddenly shot up from his seat. "I'm sure I have something that could fit you."
"Thank you," I nodded towards him still not ready to sit down yet.
"Wow," Kellie looked me up and down then at Katy. "I've never seen pants so clean before."
"Kellie!" Ellie snipped and Aaliyah chuckled.
"I'm just saying! Maybe her profession shouldn't be a baker because she can really--"
But all conversation was lost the second a loud ping noise came from the living room.
At first, I thought it was some sort of alarm because Lamar suddenly came charging down from his room and through the clothes in his hands at me. But when he huddled around his laptop with his girls surrounding him I was confused.
"What's going on?" I asked Katy.
"You'll see," she smiled at the scene before her no longer blushing.
It was then I noticed the laptop was receiving some sort of video call. A few seconds later after connecting, a dark woman wearing an army uniform appeared smiling widely. Lamar was the first to visibly crack.
"Rhonda," he breathed right when his girls yelled, "Mom!"
"Hey everyone!" she waved happily. Behind her were other people in uniforms walking around looking busy with something. "Happy Thanksgiving," she blew kisses to everyone.
"Happy Thanksgiving, baby," Lamar smiled pretending to catch her kiss. "Did you get anything to eat yet?"
"I did. They actually have good food this year. It's a little dry, and it's nothing like what you cook, but I didn't feel like throwing it up this time," she informed.
"Well I have a plate with your name on it," he smiled.
"Mmm, that sounds wonderful."
"Mom!" Jasmine jumped in. "I beat Aaliyah's score on Just Dance today!"
"Barely," Aaliyah rolled her eyes.
Rhonda smiled. "That sounds so awesome! What else did you guys do today? I want to hear all about it."
At that everyone took turns telling about their version of Thanksgiving, or what had happened so far, not leaving out any detail. Even what happened with Katy. When that part came up in three different stories she blushed and slowly made her way back to the table. I took the time to give the family some privacy while I went to go change. When I returned I took my spot next to Katy who was playing with her food. I didn't have to read her mind to know what was wrong.
"Sorry," she whispered cutting a green bean in half.
I smiled, but she couldn't see because she was so transfixed in her food, so I instead placed my hand over hers. Instantly she stopping cutting her beans up to shreds.
"It's okay," I promised her.
I meant to just give her hand a little pat to cheer her up, but instead, I let it linger a moment enjoying the feeling of her warm, soft skin on mine. For some reason, it just felt so right despite how wrong it truly was. But instead of worrying about it and despite the fact that I could see my sister was eyeing me with a knowing look, I kept my hand on Katy's.
Right where I wish it belonged.
______________________________________________________________
Anybody else like this right now?
Also just a heads up the POVS may not be alternating in the next few chapters. I know for a fact the next will be Gage POV so just be wary!
+Chapter Song: Enjoy It While It Lasts by Easy Wanderlings
+Questions: What was your favorite Thanksgiving memory? What do you think of Violet now?
+Fun Facts: This was originally a two part chapter but I decided against it. Also the gravy scene was added at the last second. Hehe
If you are enjoying this so far please consider leaving a vote/comment letting me know!
Sincerely,
Snow